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After getting off to a rocky start with an engine failure during launch Sunday, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with a half-ton of equipment and supplies -- including ice cream -- carried out a flawless final approach to the International Space Station early Wednesday, pulling up to within 60 feet so Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the lab's robot arm, could pluck it out of open space for berthing.

Making the first of at least 12 cargo deliveries under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the SpaceX Dragon capsule, after a successful test flight last May, is the … Read more

Soprano Sarah Brightman, believed to be one of the world's wealthiest classical crossover performers, has booked a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.

The launch schedule has not been announced, but the first available flight is believed to be in mid- to late-2015.

"As I'm sure you may know, I'm planning to become a spaceflight participant and have been recently approved to begin my spaceflight training by the Russian space federation, having passed the necessary medical and physical tests," she said today, reading prepared remarks at … Read more

The eternal debate about whether running or walking through rain gets you wetter has now become a moot point. An art and technology installation in London lets you make your way through rain without getting wet at all.

You don't need an umbrella or a Gore-Tex suit to achieve this feat. You just need to make sure you're visiting Random International's RainRoom.… Read more

YouTube is cranking up its original programming effort with an international push that includes new channels in Europe.

The video-sharing site announced this evening it is adding 50 channels on top of the 100 it has introduced in the past year, along with the launch of country-specific channels in France, Germany, and Britain.

"From local cuisine, health and wellness and parenting to sports, music, comedy, animation and news, this new lineup of original channels will have something for everyone," Robert Kyncl, YouTube's global head of content, said in a company blog post this evening announcing the new … Read more

An unmanned cargo ship loaded with spare parts, science equipment, and crew supplies -- including ice cream treats -- rocketed into orbit Sunday and set off after the International Space Station, kicking off a new era of commercial resupply flights intended to restore a U.S. supply chain that was crippled by the shuttle's retirement.

The Dragon capsule and its Falcon 9 rocket, both built by Space Exploration Technologies, took off with a rush of fiery exhaust at 8:35:07 p.m. EDT (GMT-4), quickly climbing away from launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.… Read more

You've double-parked your car to pick something up when a robot rolls up and threatens to give you a ticket. You might laugh, but the thing's talking with a human voice.

Researchers at Florida International University's Discovery Lab are working with a member of the U.S. Navy Reserves to build telepresence robots that could patrol while being controlled by disabled police officers and military vets. In a sense, they would be hybrid man-machine cops, like RoboCop. … Read more

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA flight engineer bid their three space station crewmates farewell Sunday, strapped into their Soyuz ferry craft, undocked from the lab complex and fell back to Earth, making a pinpoint landing in Kazakhstan to close out a 125-day voyage.

Descending through a clear blue sky under a large orange-and-white parachute, the charred Soyuz TMA-04M descent module settled to a rocket-assisted touchdown near the town of Arkalyk at 10:53 p.m. EDT (8:53 a.m. Monday local time).

The final stages of the descent were carried live on television relayed through the Russian mission … Read more

The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple's iPhones, iPods, and iPads do not violate four Samsung patents, dealing a blow to Samsung's legal offensive against Apple and its portable devices.

The ruling (PDF) is preliminary and needs to be approved by the ITC's full six-member commission.

"We remain confident that the full commission will ultimately reach a final determination that affirms our position that Apple must be held accountable for free-riding on our technological innovations," Samsung said in a statement. "We are proud of our long history of innovation in the mobile … Read more

What's the most popular Instant Messaging client? That depends on what you mean by "popular," but did you think Tencent's QQ International was one of them? If popularity means number of users or size of the network, few of the well-known IM clients can approach Tencent's claims of more than 710 million users. As you might have guessed, QQ is one of the most popular IM and video chat tools in China, which means it's got a user base that's difficult to match. QQi gives international users access to QQi's immense Chinese … Read more